1.   Former Mexican President Carlos Salinas privatized state firms to encourage U.S. investment in Mexico.

2.   He said proceeds from privatizing public firms will be spent on infrastructure and social development projects.

3.   Tanri, however, declined to make any projections for how many state firms would be privatized this year.

4.   The company was a former state-owned monopoly, and the government has in recent years sold off its holdings to privatize the firm.

5.   The government won an important victory in mid-November when the Constitutional Court backed key legislation on privatizing state firms.

6.   Thousands of state enterprise workers have been holding several protests against plans to privatize their firms.

7.   The KCTU has demanded bigger wages, shorter working hours, the release of union leaders from prison and the scrapping of plans to privatize state firms.